A Taste of Victory
by Crippleshot13
Summary: Nishikata has lost to Takagi so many times at their games and contests, that it's hard to keep count. But this time, he's come up with (another) foolproof plan that can't possibly fail! Question is, will he be able to get over his own embarrassment to see it through?


**FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS I LAY DORMANT! WHO DARES DISTURB MY-oh hey guys! How have you been?! Crippleshot13 has returned from the dead once more to bring you another story! Although, this isn't my usual Naruto based story. This one actually comes from an anime/manga called Karakai Jozu no Takagi-San. For those unfamiliar (the people who came here that were notified of my new story), it's a story about a girl named Takagi teasing the boy she likes, Nishikata, on a daily basis using her wits and innocent psychological attacks to mess him up. Nishikata is a shy boy that embarrasses easily but has made it his life goal to somehow get back at her for it. It's a light-hearted, slice of life story that is just too damn adorable and I wanted to write a story on it. So here it is! I highly recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of anime/manga. There's a season and a half of the anime (season 2 has about 6 episodes so far) and an OVA and the manga is currently up to 110 chapters so far. If this type of thing isn't your cup of tea, I completely understand, but for those of you who have decided to stick around, I hope you enjoy it! ON TO THE STORY!**

**(Note, this story contains small spoilers, but nothing too significant to ruin the experience of the actual anime/manga, but thought I'd just mention it).**

**Disclaimer: The characters portrayed in this story are not my own. ****Karakai Jozu no Takagi-San and ****Karakai Jozu no Moto Takagi-San are all written and owned by Soichiro Yamamoto.**

**A Taste of Victory**

It was another beautiful morning as a certain black-haired boy walked the street towards school for the day. He had a confident smile on his face and a pep in his step. He knew this was going to be a great day because he knew that today would be the day he finally won against his long-time contest rival and teaser, Takagi-San.

"_Heh heh heeeh, just you wait, Takagi-San! This time, victory will be mine!" _Nishikata thought to himself.

"_You've used this tactic on me so many times, that you probably don't expect me to use it against you. I would usually be too embarrassed to say something like this out loud, but I've been practicing This line over and over again to prepare myself for just this occasion." _

Nishikata was so lost in thought that he didn't notice a certain someone started following him a few blocks back.

"Morning, Nishikata." A certain brunette greeted him.

"Good morning Tak-AH!" Nishkata yelped as he jumped back "H-h-how long have you been there?!"

"Ahahaha, your reaction is hilarious as always!" Takagi said while laughing her usual laugh at his expense.

"That doesn't answer the question!" He said, his face turning red with embarrassment.

"Mmm, a few blocks now"

"Why didn't you say anything sooner!?"

"I didn't want to disturb you while you were so deep in your thoughts about how to beat me." She said grinning.

"_Grrr...damn you, Takagi-San." _He cursed mentally.

"So, what did you come up with?" She asked as she started walking again.

Nishikata followed. "N-nothing yet."

"Hmmm~? Is that right?" She questioned with a hum.

"Y-yeah, nothing at all." He stammered.

"That's not what your face was saying earlier" She teased.

"_Gah! Was it that obvious?!"_ He thought while looking away so she wouldn't see his reaction.

"Well...maybe I do have something up my sleeve, but you'll have to wait to find out." He said while trying to look and sound confident (failing at both).

"...alright then, I can wait." She said nonchalantly.

Nishikata was surprised that she dropped it so easily. Usually, she would try to guess what he's thinking (and get it right) causing his plan to fail miserably before he could enact it. He began to get suspicious.

"You're not going to try and guess what I'm thinking?" He asked

"Do you want me to guess?" She asked back, turning to him and smiling

"Eh...w-well...no...I just...it isn't like you to just leave it like that is all."

"Well, you just looked so confident that I thought I would let you off the hook this one time. Unless you really do want me to guess." She said while giving him one of her teasing grins

Nishikata, slightly flushed, piped up immediate "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Ahahaha alright then, I won't try to guess."

Nishikata let out a small sigh of relief. If she tried to guess his true intention this time, he'd most likely give it away without realizing and lose his only trump card. Thankfully, the two continued walking to school and chatting about normal things like classes and their other friends. Takagi threw in the occasional teasing here and there, but it was much more tame than usual. Nishikata was thankful for this small reprieve, meaning it would probably mean fewer pushups for him tonight.

* * *

The day seemed to be going by quickly as it was already lunchtime at school. Nishikata was opening his bento when Takagi approached him.

"Hey, Nishikata." the girl said with her arms behind her back. "Want to eat lunch together?"

"Huh? Uh, s-sure" he said nodding sheepishly.

"Great! But first, why don't we play a game?"

This got Nishikata's attention. "A game, huh? Sure, I'm always up for a challenge. What are we doing?"

"If you can guess which hand I'm holding my bento behind my back, you win."

"_Alright Nishikata, you've got a 50/50 shot at this! Concentrate, what hand would she put it in? Her right hand is her dominant one, so she could be using that one as a force of habit. Then again, she probably expects me to think she's doing that, so maybe it's the left." _He thought, trying to reason his way to victory.

Takagi tilted her body to the left and stared at him. "Having trouble? I'll give you a hint. Whatever you think the answer is, it's wrong."

"_Huuuuuuuh?! What's that supposed to mean?! Now she's just playing mind games!"_

"I'll give you five seconds to answer." She said as she started to count down.

"WHAT?! THERE'S A TIME LIMIT NOW?!"

"Five"

"_Damn you, Takagi-San! Forcing me to decide before I've had a chance to really think this through!"_

"Four"

"_She said whatever I think the answer is, is wrong. What could that mean?!"_

"Three"

"_Ahhh I'm running out of time!" _

"Two"

"STOOOOOOOOOOOP!" He shouted, raising his hand to her. "I have my answer."

"Ohhhh? Well then, go ahead and guess." She said.

"The answer is...your right hand!" He said pointing to her right side.

"Hmmm~ are you sure about that?"

"Heh heh, you can't fool me, Takagi-San. When you tilted your body to the left, I took that as a hint that it was the left hand it was in, but then you told me that my thinking was wrong. So that means your right hand!"

She paused and just smiled at him for a few seconds, causing him to grow nervous. He started to sweat thinking that maybe he didn't make the right choice after all. Finally, she answered.

"Sorry, that's wrong." She said in a cute voice.

"EHHHHHHHH?!" He let out a whine, taken aback by her statement.

"The answer is," She spun around so her back was facing him, "Both hands!"

Sure enough, her bento was being held by both hands on each end. Nishikata was dumbfounded.

"Hey, that's not fair, Takagi-San! You didn't say that both hands was an option!"

"I never said it wasn't either, did I?"

"Geh!...I guess not…"

"Ahahaha too bad~. Now what to do about your punishment" She said raising a finger to her mouth, feigning being lost in thought.

"THERE'S A PUNISHMENT NOW?!"

"Ah! I've got it!" She said as she now drew closer to Nishikata's face with her own.

This caused Nishikata to pull back instinctively out of embarrassment. His face was turning redder by the second and he couldn't make eye contact with her.

"Since you lost, you have to feed me." She said grinning

"EH!? WH-I HAVE TO WHAT!?" He shouted growing redder than before.

"You lost, so no complaining~!" She said in a sing-song voice.

"B-b-but if I do that, people will think we're a...a…"

"A what?"

Nishikata gulped, looked away and said in a low voice, "couple…"

"What was that? I didn't hear you." She said as she got closer and put a hand to her ear.

"Yes, you did!" He snapped, still not looking at her.

"Ahahaha ok maybe I did."

She opened her bento and handed it to Nishikata along with her chopsticks. It was a mixture of fried rice, vegetables, and sausages in the shape on an octopus. Nishikata just stared at it wondering if he could even build up the courage to go through with the request. He looked up at Takagi who just stood there with a big smile on her face and tilted her head to the side. He could tell she was enjoying his struggle with the situation. Finally, he spoke.

"A-alright...let's just get this over with"

"Hmmm~, so you're ok with people seeing us as a couple?"

"Wh-I-I didn't say that! I'm only doing this because I lost and that was the punishment!"

"Okaaay~." She said as she grabbed her chair and brought it close to Nishikata.

She sat down and closed her eyes while opening her mouth, "Ahhhhhhn~"

Nishikata gulped as he shakily picked up a sausage with the chopsticks. He could feel his hands sweating and his heartbeat grew even quicker. He felt like his heart would burst out of his chest at this rate. He slowly brought the sausage closer to her mouth, just before he could give it to her, she said something.

With her eyes still closed, "You know, Nishikata, I wouldn't mind if people saw us as a couple." She said in a soft and seductive voice.

"HUUUUUUUUUUH?!" He shouted.

This caused him to lose focus and the sausage fell out of the chopsticks seemingly in slow motion. He panicked and started grabbing at it, missing multiple times before finally catching it just before it hit the ground. He let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention back to the girl giggling in front of him.

"Don't say things like that out of nowhere! I don't want to drop and waste any of your food!"

"Ahahaha sorry, sorry, I won't say anything this time. Promise."

She closed her eyes again and opened her mouth, "Ahhhhn~"

His hand was still shaking, but he managed to bring the sausage to her mouth this time without dropping it. Takagi took it and started chewing. Nishikata thought he was going to die of embarrassment and a huge pile of steam could be seen coming from his completely red face.

"That was good! Thanks, Nishikata!" She said.

"Y-y-you're welcome…" He answered softly.

He slowly went to pick up another sausage before Takagi took the bento away from him. He looked surprised.

"Eh? Takagi-San, why did you take the bento back? You're not done eating already, are you?"

"Nope, I'll eat the rest on my own. I didn't say how much you had to feed me."

"Oh...I see." He said a little dejected.

She grinned accusingly, "Hey, Nishikata...you wanted to feed me more, didn't you?"

"W-wh-what?! O-of course not! I was just under the impression I had to cause you didn't say I only had to do it once!"

Takagi couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggling at his reaction. Nishikata turned away again even more embarrassed and mumbled to himself so that the girl wouldn't hear him.

"Whatever, I'm going to eat my own lunch now." He said as he opened his bento.

Takagi peeked over to see what was in his lunch. He had white rice covering half the box, Hamburger and vegetables.

"Looks delicious!" She said.

"Yeah, Hamburger is my favorite!" He replied, seeming to forget everything just happened.

"Hmmm~ is that so? I'll be sure to remember that."

"_What's that supposed to mean?" _He thought.

Putting it out of his mind, he cut off a small piece of the hamburger with his chopsticks and proceeded to bring it to his mouth. Before he could eat it, however, Takagi said something.

"You know, Nishikata, I wouldn't mind feeding you too."

"EHHHHH?!"

His hand slipped after hearing that and he dropped the hamburger. This time, he wasn't able to catch it and it hit the ground. All life seemed to have drained from his face after that.

"Ahahaha jeez, Nishikata! You sure are clumsy, aren't you?"

"This is no laughing matter, Takagi-San!" He said with a single tear in his eye ready to fall.

Takagi held up a sausage which surprised him. "Here, you can have one of these."

He didn't know how to react at first but accepted it. "T-thanks, Takagi-S-Mmph!"

He was cut off by Takagi feeding him the food. He started coughing and choking at the sudden move, throwing the girl into another fit of giggles. When he was finally able to swallow, he was out of breath.

"I thought I was gonna die!"

"You really do have the best reactions, Nishikata!" She said, still giggling.

"Whose fault do you think that is!?" He quipped back.

The rest of lunch went on rather uneventful. The two of them ate theirs without any more teasing from Takagi and they chatted like two normal people. Although, in the back of Nishikata's mind, he was wondering if he'd really be able to pull off his plan if he was still this embarrassed by her.

* * *

Three girls from the same class watched as Takagi played her usual antics on Nishikata.

"Those two seem to be getting closer and closer. Can't they just go out already?" One girl with glasses and a single strand of hair for bangs said.

"Eh?! You mean they aren't yet?" Asked another, smaller, girl with fuzzy eyebrows.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this just continued on forever." The last girl said, seeming not to be too interested in what was happening.

"Don't say that, Sanae-Chan! I'm sure they'll end up together at some point. It's their destiny!"

"Mina, you believe in destiny?" The girl with glasses asked curiously.

"Of course, Yukari-Chan! I believe that someday, I'll find a man and we'll have a great life together with lots of kids!" She said as her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Yukari and Sanae just stood there not knowing what to say to the girl as she kept going on about her 'destiny'.

* * *

School ended for the day and Nishikata was packing up his things. He was starting to think about his plan again, although, he lost a lot of confidence in it after all of Takagi's teasing throughout the day.

"Ready to go, Nishikata?" Takagi asked him.

"Yeah, let's go." He said.

As they walked together, Nishikata was trying to pump himself up as they went.

"_Come on, you can do this! You've been practicing over and over! Don't let her teasing get you down! Today is the day you finally beat her!" _He shouted in his head.

"Whatcha thinking about, Nishikata?" Takagi asked, seeing the expression on his face.

"Ah, n-nothing, nothing at all!" He said back.

"Ehhhh~ it doesn't look like nothing."

"L-like I said, it's nothing!"

"Hmmm~ if you say so."

True to her word, Takagi hadn't asked about Nishikata's plan all day. Which means he still had a chance to pull this off. Usually, they would turn right at the upcoming street to go home, but Nishikata stopped before they turned.

"Hey, Takagi-San, let's go this way." He said pointing to the path on the left.

"Hmm? Why?" She asked.

"Well, you know, I thought it would be a change of pace."

She stared at him and he grew more nervous by the second until she finally said,

"Sure, let's go."

"_Perfect, now I can enact my plan. Little does Takagi-San know, there's a park down this way with a basketball court. My plan is to challenge her to a contest to see who can make it to five baskets first. I saw her playing basketball in PE class the other day and she isn't half bad. But I'm pretty good too. I'll let her think she's winning and, just when she's about to shoot her last, winning shot, I'll spring my trap."_

As they continued walking, they eventually came across the park Nishikata was thinking about. It was time to begin operation 'Beat Takagi-San for the First Time Ever so She'll Stop Teasing me 3,000' (the 3,000 is for the previous 2,999 times he's failed to beat her at any of their games).

"Hey Takagi-San, how about a contest?"

"Oh? Is this the one you mentioned this morning?"

"Heh heh, maybe."

"Sure, what's the contest?"

He pointed to the Basketball court, "A Basketball challenge. The first to make 5 baskets wins. I saw you in PE the other day when we were playing basketball. You're not half bad, but I'm confident I can win at this."

"Hmmm~ so you were staring at me during PE class? Nishikata...you pervert." She said with a grin.

"EH? N-no that's not- quit putting words in my mouth! I was just scouting your potential for this challenge is all!"

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not! It's just hot out today!"

"If you say sooo~."

"Grrr...anyway, let's go."

Nishikata stomped over to the court while Takai followed, giggling all the way. Once they reached the court, Nishikata took a ball out of a container that he had left there the day before so that they would have a ball to use, but so that he didn't have to carry it around today and give away his plan too early. He dibbled it a couple of times to make sure it still had plenty of air.

"Alright then, shall we get started? He asked her.

"Ready when you are. Since it's your challenge, you can go first."

"Sounds good to me." He said confidently as he walked up to the free-throw line.

He stared at the hoop while bouncing the ball a couple of times, concentrating as much as possible.

"Here goes!" He shouted.

He shot the ball and it bounced off the backboard and into the hoop. "Yes! Score one for me!"

"Wow, that as a good shot, Nishikata!" Takagi said while clapping.

"Heh heh, thank you, thank you." He said cooly.

"Ok, my turn, pass the ball over here." She said.

Nishikata did as requested and Takagi walked up to the free-throw line. Her confident smile not leaving her face. She bounced the ball a few times and got into her shooting stance. She shot the ball and it swished right through the hoop.

"Yay! I got one!" She shouted jumping up and down.

"Not bad, Takagi-San, but the challenge is far from over." Nishikata said, still confident in his victory.

The two continued to shoot the ball. Some misses, some good shots, until they were both tied at four. It was Nishikata's turn again and now was the time to put his plan into action. He'd miss this shot on purpose so that Takagi would have a chance to win. Then he'd use the line he's been preparing for the last week to trip her up. Ultimately making her miss and giving him a chance to make the winning shot. Even if he were to miss, she'd be so flustered that she probably wouldn't be able to make another basket. He also anticipated that this being the potential winning shot, Takagi would try to say something to trip him up. So, he mentally prepared himself for that possibility as well.

"Well, here goes." he said as he bounced the ball in front of him.

He took his stance and waiting for a few seconds, anticipating that Takagi was going to say something. He looked over at her and she just stood there smiling.

"_Huh? That's weird. She usually tries to trip me up about now." _He thought to himself.

Takagi, still smiling, tilted her head a little as if to ask 'What's wrong?' He shook it off and went to take his shot. Naturally, he put a little less power into it so that it would just barely miss the rim.

"Ah darn, I missed!" He said, feigning surprise. "Well, it looks like I'm going to lose again if you make this next shot, Takagi-San. _Alright, Nishikata, now's the time. Take all the practice you've done and put it into action" _He thought on that last part.

Takagi, still not saying anything, quietly walked up to the free-throw line and held out her hands asking for the ball. Nishikata, looking a bit nervous at her lack of comment, gave her the ball as requested. He stood off to the side while Takagi gave the ball a few bounces to get ready for her shot.

"_Here we go, it's now or never!" _He thought.

His heart was racing and his hands were getting sweaty. He wondered if he could really do this. What he was about to say is probably the most embarrassing thing he'll ever have said in his entire life. But it was for the win. He had to do it. He couldn't back down now. Takagi prepared for her shot. As she was about to do so, Nishikata spoke up.

"Y-you know, Takagi-San. If you win this, I'll give you my f-first k-k-kiss."

Takagi's eyes widened slightly at hearing that. She let go of the ball and her shot was in the air now.

"_How's that, Takagi-San!? You're always joking and saying stuff like that to me to throw me off, but how does it feel to be on the receiving end of it!?" _He thought to himself triumphantly.

The ball was heading toward the basket seemingly in slow motion. Nishikata looked on confidently as the ball traveled closer and closer...a little too close for his liking. The ball connected with the rim and bounced straight up. He was starting to panic a little.

"_No way, this can't be happening! Is it really going to go in!?" _He shouted in his mind.

The ball dropped back down and bounced up again, it did this a couple more times bouncing between the sides of the rim until it stood still for a few seconds. To Nishikata, these seconds seemed like an eternity. He gulped as he waited for results. The ball began to lean. Slowly, it crept towards the hoop until finally, it softly fell through it, making a small 'fwish' sound and Takagi the winner. Nishikata was stunned as he let out a small, long squeak. His plan backfired. While it seems that Takagi was slightly taken off guard, it was not enough to prevent her from missing the basket. He miscalculated completely.

"Hooray! I won!" She shouted while jumping up and down again.

Meanwhile, Nishikata did the opposite. He dropped down on all fours in utter defeat. He looked as though his life was over. Takagi walked over to him and knelt down in a squatting position. Nishikata looked up to see the biggest smile on her face that he'd ever seen.

"Good game, Nishikata." She said sweetly.

He was still at a loss for words for a moment until he finally said, softly, "Yeah...you too. By the way...why didn't you say anything at the end? You usually try to mess me up."

"I thought I'd give you a fair chance to win this time. Of course, I already knew you planned to say something to me on my shot, so I wanted to see what you'd say without teasing you first.

"EHHHH!? YOU KNEW!?" He shouted.

"Yup!"

He stood up slowly anticipating what she was about to do next. Tease him as usual. At least he didn't have to worry about the penalty. He knew Takagi wouldn't ask. It was just to throw her off like she once did when they were tossing cans into the trash bin. She just happened to make the shot this time around.

"So, about your 'punishment'." She said.

"_Urk…there's no way she would."_

Takagi took out some lip balm from her pocket and started applying it. Nishikata looked on in shock.

"_THERE'S NO WAY SHE WOULD!" _He repeated in his head.

Takagi finished applying the balm and put it back in her pocket. She stared at him. If he didn't know any better, he'd say her eyes were sparkling.

"No backing out now. After all, this was your challenge AND your reward idea if I won."

He couldn't believe this. She was actually asking him to k-k-kiss her. This is not what he expected at all.

"_Wait...this is just her way of teasing me again, isn't it? She's not actually going to k-k-kiss me. Maybe this is a way to snatch victory away from the jaws of defeat." _He thought to himself. "_If I can manage to keep going until she pulls away from embarrassment, then it'll be my win!" _

Suddenly, the vision of Takagi pulling away from his kiss made him...sad? That couldn't be right. After all, this is his first kiss and that's usually reserved for the girl you...like? Wait...did...did he _like _Takagi? All these thoughts started creeping into Nishikata's head. He started thinking about all the time they've spent together. Both in and outside of school. There was the summer festival, the school camping trip, the pool with Nakai and Mano, all the times they walked to and from school together. His thoughts were broken up when Takagi spoke up again.

"Nishikata?" She asked quietly

He looked up to see her staring at him with the most hopeful of eyes. That made him blush like crazy. He wanted to, but he couldn't resist those eyes and the way her lips glistened in the sunlight after applying her lip balm. He gulped and slowly started walking towards her. He came face to face with her after a few steps. Nervousness and embarrassment on levels he'd never felt before.

"You know, Nishikata?"

He gulped again, "Y-yeah?"

"If you wanted to kiss me so badly, you could have just asked normally." She said with a mischievous grin.

His face grew even redder. She just teased him again! Even in a situation like this, all she could do was tease him while he was feeling these different emotions all at once. His thoughts were again cut off by Takagi placing her hand on his cheek. His gaze snapped back to see the most loving smile and look in her eyes that he'd ever seen. There's no mistake. That wasn't a teasing look. That was the look of someone in love. He became lost in those eyes and didn't realize that he started moving his lips closer to hers until they finally connected. He was surprised, but not by the kiss, but by the fact that Takagi pulled away so quickly. He didn't know what he was feeling, but the most accurate thing he could think of was...disappointment? Takagi seeing his expression spoke up.

"Hmmm~ are you disappointed it didn't last longer?" She said as if reading his mind.

"Eh, how did yo-I mean of course not!"

"Ohhh~? Really? Then you don't want to do it again?" She teased.

That triggered something in Nishikata. Some sort of instinct. Instead of getting embarrassed, he moved in quickly for another kiss. Takagi made a small yelp out of surprise, but she didn't fight it. She closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. Nishikata wrapped her in a tight embrace and she returned it. This kiss was much longer and passionate. It wasn't until a few seconds later that Nishikata realized what he did and snapped back to reality. He broke the kiss and looked redder than a tomato. This time, it was Takagi's turn to be disappointed as noted by the small pout on her face. It was soon replaced by her giggling and turning into laughter.

"Ahahaha, Nishikata, this is so like you! Even though we finally kissed, you still get really embarrassed. Hahaha"

"I-i-it's your fault for always teasing me!"

"Well, congratulations?" She said sweetly.

"Huh, what do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"You finally won against me." She said blushing herself and looking away a little.

"HUH!? WAIT, I WHAT!?" He was Flabbergasted

"Remember? A while back, I told you that if you could kiss me, you win. Remember that I also said there wasn't an expiration date on that game?"

Now that she mentioned it, that did sound familiar to him. He thought about it some more until he remembered those exact words. It wasn't how he expected to do it, but he had won, he had finally beaten Takagi, the master teaser. He was so happy that he couldn't help but shout in joy.

"I DID IT! I FINALLY BEAT HER! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, IT FINALLY HAPPENED!"

"Ahahaha, as always, your reactions are hilarious, Nishikata. So...now that you've won, what now?" She asked looking at him. "Does that mean we're even and you don't want to have any more contests?" She said a bit sad.

"Huh!? What are you talking about? I'm not going to stop challenging you until I beat you as many times as you've beaten me!"

Takagi's eyes lit up at that statement "Well, then it's going to take you a while to catch up, isn't it? Although, I don't plan to stop teasing you in the meantime...or ever." She said, giggling.

"Just you wait, Takagi-San, I'll catch up to you in no time! This is the first of many victories for me!" He said confidently.

"Hmmm~, well then, good luck, Nishikata, I'll be waiting for you to catch up to me. Always." She said lovingly.

That made Nishikata's heart skip a beat. "I-I-I…." He didn't know what to say.

Takagi Grinned, "By the way, how long exactly do you plan on holding me like this?" She asked in a teasing voice.

Nishikata suddenly realized that he hadn't stopped holding Takagi since the kiss. He shouted out in embarrassment.

"TAAAAKAGI-SAAAAAAAN!"

"AHAHAHA!"

Takagi laughed hysterically at his reaction. She couldn't help but tease him in that situation too.

"But you know, I really don't mind it." She said softly. "Hey...Nishikata…"

"W...what is it?"

She leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "I love you."

"E-e-eeeeeeeeeh!?"

He didn't know why he was surprised. After what transpired, there was little room for doubt. Of course, he couldn't let her feelings go unanswered.

"I….I….." He looked away and softly said, "I love you too…"

It was the truth. After all, they'd been through, he realized that he really did love her. Aside from being teased, he felt something was missing whenever she wasn't around or whenever they didn't walk to or from school together. He really couldn't imagine his life without her. He unconsciously held her tighter, not wanting to lose this feeling. Takagi giggled. She could feel how strong he was from all the pushups he did due to her teasing.

"I don't mind if you hold me, but we should probably head home now. It's getting late.

"Ah...well...yeah, you're right."

He reluctantly let go of her and they started walking back home. Takagi took his hand in hers as they spent the rest of their walk in silence. Nishikata couldn't look her way out of embarrassment and she was thankful he didn't. If he did, he would see how red her face was. And one victory for him is enough for one day in her opinion.

* * *

**_10 Years Later_**

"Mommy, Mommy look!" A small child said.

"What do you have there, Chi?" Asked a full-grown Takagi (now a Nishikata), stepping away from preparing a hamburger dinner.

"It's a pretty rock!" She said excitedly.

"Wow, that IS a pretty rock! Where did you find it?" The mother inquired.

"I found it by the river with daddy!" She said, pointing to the full-grown Nishikata next to her.

"She had a lot of fun. I also taught her how to skip rocks on the water."

"Is that so? Chi, how many times were you able to skip the rocks?" Her mother asked

"Only two times, but daddy says he'll take me back soon to do it again. I want to get thirty skips next time!"

Mr. Nishikata twitched at hearing that number. His wife noticed and grinned.

"Hmmm~ thirty huh? Dear, doesn't that number sound familiar?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dear."

"Really, so you don't remember the first time we held hands?"

"I TOLD YOU THAT DIDN'T COUNT AS HOLDING HANDS!" He yelled and then covering his mouth immediately.

"Ah hah, so you do remember!" she said triumphantly.

Chi looked at her parents confused, "Mommy, what are you and daddy talking about?"

"Oh, I'm just teasing your daddy is all, Chi."

Chi tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What's tee-sink?"

Mr. Nishikata glared at the Mrs. "Don't you dare..."

Mrs. Nishikata gave him a big grin. "Why don't you ask daddy?"

"WHA-" Was all he could say.

"Daddy, what's tee-sink?" His daughter asked, turning to him

He was trapped. He couldn't lie because he's always taught her lying was bad. And he knew that his wife would just turn it around on him and tease him even more. He eventually sighed and gave in.

"Teasing is what your mother does to me all the time by making me feel embarrassed and enjoying it."

Mrs. Nishikata started to giggle in the background, but Chi still looked a little confused.

"So why does mommy do it then?"

"I do it because I love your daddy very much." Her mom answered.

Mr. Nishikata looked away and blushed out of embarrassment. Chi noticed.

"Ah! He's embarrassed! Does that mean you just teased him?"

"Yes...yes it does." Her father answered.

"Yay! If it means that you love him, then I'm going to tease daddy lots too!" Chi said excitedly

Mrs. Nishikata laughed as she saw the life drain away from her husband's face. Chi looked at her daddy confused and asked if he was alright. She didn't get a response. Her mother told her he was ok and that if she gave him a kiss on the cheek, he'd be all better. It did the trick.

**_End_**

**AN: Gotta say, it really felt great to write again. It's been years. With my former job, I had no time or motivation to do any of it (which is why I wasn't able to finish the Fox Nine story (Please forgive me TT-TT)). But now that I'm taking a small break between jobs, this was something I wanted to do before things get hectic again. I may or may not write some more one-shots in the meantime, but I hope to be able to do so! This anime/manga is a bit more obscure than Naruto, so I'm not sure how I did with it or if my audience is the right one for this kind of story, but I hope you all enjoyed! Also, the time skip part is actually part of another manga that's running alongside their younger days manga. It's called ****Karakai Jozu no Moto Takagi-San and currently has 100 chapters. Anyway, Feel free to leave a review! I always appreciate your feedback!**** Until next time, CYA!**


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